Hours before Biden and Xi Jinping are set to talk, China sails aircraft carrier through key strait
China sails its aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait in show of strength just hours before phone call with Biden over Ukraine
Aircraft carrier Shandong is the jewel in the crown of the Chinese navyThe 70,000-ton carrier can ship 32 twinjets and 12 transport helicoptersShandong’s journey was shadowed by American destroyer USS Ralph JohnsonIt precedes a crucial phone call between Biden and Xi Jinping later today
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China sailed an aircraft carrier through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this morning, shadowed by a U.S. destroyer.
The journey by elite carrier Shandong comes just hours before the two country’s presidents are due to talk for the first time in months.
The Taiwan Strait in the South China Sea is a hotly contested stretch of water, with China claiming democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory.
Chinese elite aircraft carrier Shandong arrives at Dalian, a city in northeast China, in May 2018. It is the first aircraft carrier produced domestically in China and a jewel in the navy’s crown
Over the past two years Beijing has stepped up its military activity near the island to assert its sovereignty claims, alarming Taipei and Washington.
An anonymous source who was not authorised to speak to the media told Reuters Shandong sailed close to the Taiwan-controlled island of Kinmen, which sits directly opposite the Chinese city of Xiamen.
It was shadowed by American missile destroyer the USS Ralph Johnson.
The Taiwan Strait between the People’s Republic and Chinese city Xiamen is a contested stretch of water in the South China Sea – with Shandong sailing through to ‘intimidate’ Taipei
“Around 10:30 a.m. the CV-17 [carrier] appeared around 30 nautical miles to the southwest of Kinmen, and was photographed by a passenger on a civilian flight,” the source said, referring to the Shandong’s official service number.
The USS Ralph Johnson, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, followed the carrier, which did not have aircraft on its deck and sailed north through the strait, the source added.
Taiwan also sent warships to keep an eye on the situation, they added.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry declined to comment.
China’s Defence Ministry and the U.S. Navy did not immediately responded to requests for comment.
American missile destroyer the USS Ralph Johnson (foreground), seen sailing through the Philippine Sea in June 2020, is based at US Navy centre Yokosuka, near Tokyo
The sail happened about 12 hours before U.S. President Joe Biden is due to speak to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The source described the timing of the Shandong’s movement so close to that call as “provocative”.
China says Taiwan is the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States.
Washington has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, but is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier.
The Shandong is China’s newest aircraft carrier, commissioned in 2019.
China’s only other carrier, the Liaoning, is mostly used for training purposes.
Both ships have ventured close to Taiwan before.
In December 2019, shortly before presidential and parliamentary elections in Taiwan, the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a move condemned by Taiwan as attempted intimidation.
Taiwan’s air force scrambles aircraft almost daily to see off Chinese warplanes flying into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, mostly to the southwestern part of the strait.
Taiwan calls this “grey zone” warfare activity, designed to both test its responses and wear out Taiwan’s air force.
